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live-long-day, upon sofas and arm-chairs, have you acquired the necessary ingredients for being metamorphosed into a tidy little haberdasher?"
Gabriella, concluding that her situation had been made known to him by Juliet, answered, in a melancholy tone, "Is this a period, Sir, to consider punctilio? Alas! whence I come, all that are greatest, most ancient, and most noble[1], have learnt, that self-exertion can alone mark nobility of soul; and that self-dependence only can sustain honour in adversity. Alas! whence I come, the first youth is initiated in the view, if not in the endurance of misfortune! There can be no understanding, or there must be early reflection; there can be no heart, or there must be commiserating sympathy!"
"I protest, Ma'am," cried Sir Jaspar, looking at her with astonishment, "I begin to suspect that I came into the world only this morning! Where I
- ↑ The period is the reign of Robespierre.
